The European Commission has adopted a partnership agreement for EU
structural and investment funds submitted by the Czech Republic. The
document, which took three years to negotiate, outlines Czech investment
strategy until 2020, and paves the way for the drawing of some 22 billion
euros in funds.

Věra Jourová, photo: Filip Jandourek
The partnership agreement with the European Commission was three years in
the making, an essential investment plan for the Czech Republic over the
next budget period. As such, it opens the door to more than 20 billion
euros to help in numerous areas, such as boosting competitiveness and
economic growth, fighting social exclusion, pushing forward environmental
projects and tackling unemployment. The Minister for Regional Development
and EC Commission candidate Věra Jourová congratulated the team which
prepared the document and took part in negotiations with the EC. On
Wednesday, she summed up the moment as well as some of the challenges
ahead.

“This is a key moment with the agreement being signed by Commissioner
Johannes Hahn. The agreement caps a certain stage which was crucial not
only for our ministry but for the Czech public. At the same time, it is a
start of something new: it allows us to continue and complete negotiations
over operational programmes – which will provide funds for concrete
projects. Negotiations have begun... not everything, however, will be easy
to push through.”

Under the strategic plan, the Czech Republic wants to support innovation
and entrepreneurship, placing an emphasis on quality over quantity when it
comes to projects. The Deputy Minister for Regional Development Daniel
Braun stressed overall the system itself had been improved and tailored
more specifically to the country’s needs:

Photo: European Commission“We managed to negotiate several changes with the EC, which should make
the whole process more transparent, more strategic, and more beneficial for
the country.”

Because the clock is ticking, Minister Jourová has said clearly the
Ministry for Regional Development will waste no time in launching a
campaign for potential applicants in a little over a month’s time; the
campaign will include regional conferences for potential applicants The
minister warned that over the last budget period from 2007 – 2013, the
Czech Republic fell behind in the drawing of funds, a situation that the
ministry would like to avoid this time around.